Meet the staff

Chuck Hagner, Editor

Chuck is a publishing professional with over 20 years’ experience writing, editing, and choosing photos to inform, educate, and entertain. He became editor of BirdWatching (formerly Birder’s World) in 2001, after a successful career as a writer and editor at Time Life Books. Chuck is the author of two books about birds and birdwatching: Guide to Ducks and Geese and Wings of Spring: Courtship, Nesting, and Fledging (Stackpole Books). He holds a master’s degree from American University in Washington, DC, and dual bachelor’s degrees from Boston University. You can reach Chuck at (617) 315-9160 and chagner@madavor.com.

Matt Mendenhall, Managing Editor

Matt edits Hotspots Near You and other sections of each issue, and he writes news and feature stories and book and product reviews. He also evaluates manuscripts and finds photos, and he has reported extensively on the endangered Whooping Crane. He joined the magazine in 2000 after a five-year stint as the editor of a trade publication. He holds a Bachelor’s in journalism from Marquette University. You can reach Matt at (617) 706-9098 and mmendenhall@madavor.com.

Lee Mergner, Group Publisher

As group publisher at Madavor Media, Lee oversees three magazines: BirdWatching, The Writer, and JazzTimes. Lee also contributes reviews, columns, news features, and profiles to JazzTimes, and he’s the co-host, along with singer Rene Marie, of JazzTimes Spins & Riffs, a weekly podcast available from iTunes. Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Lee obtained his BA in psychology and math from Dickinson College and an MBA in marketing from Temple University. You can reach him at (617) 315-9154 and lmergner@madavor.com.

Lizz Anderson, Graphic Designer

Lizz has been a graphic designer at Madavor Media since 2010 and has been designing BirdWatching since the December 2012 issue. Designing everything from feature stories and covers to the hotspot maps and house ads, she aims to make the magazine as nice to look at as it is interesting and informative to read. Lizz received her BFA in graphic design from the Hartford Art School and then returned to the Boston area, where she grew up and currently resides. You can reach Lizz at (617) 706-9085 and landerson@madavor.com.

Contributing Editors

Our contributing editors aren’t just columnists. They’re bestselling authors, popular public speakers, tour leaders, field researchers, and well-known artists. Each is knowledgeable, likable, and frequently, really funny. They’re just the sort of people you’d want to go birding with. They’re the biggest names in the world of birding. And you can find them in every issue of BirdWatching.

Julie Craves

Julie answers readers’ questions about birds in her column “Since You Asked” in every issue of the magazine. She is supervisor of avian research at the Rouge River Bird Observatory at the University of Michigan Dearborn and a research associate at the university’s Environmental Interpretive Center. A tireless researcher and bird bander with a keen interest in the stopover ecology of migrant birds, she is also a personable writer with a gift for making everything she writes readable and entertaining. Her first article in Birder’s World (now BirdWatching), “Forest Fire-tail,” a profile of the American Redstart, appeared in June 1994. Send a question to Julie.

Pete Dunne

Pete is an accomplished birder, a gifted storyteller — the “Bard of Birding,” according to the Wall Street Journal — and one of North America’s preeminent nature writers. He is the author of over a dozen books and our regular wide-ranging column “Birder at Large.” He founded the World Series of Birding and, in 1987, was awarded the ABA Roger Tory Peterson Award for lifetime achievement. For many years the director of the Cape May Bird Observatory, he recently transitioned over to the role of New Jersey Audubon’s Ambassador for Birding. His first article, the essay “Hawks and Feeders,” appeared in June 1987.

Laura Erickson

Laura’s column “Attracting Birds,” about attracting, feeding, sheltering, and understanding the birds in your backyard, appears in every issue. She is an author, radio producer, and public speaker who has dedicated her professional life to the love, understanding, and protection of birds. “Snow Bird,” her first article in the magazine, appeared in December 2003. It described the migration and winter habits of the American Robin.

Eldon Greij

Eldon is a biologist and lifelong educator and the author of our popular column “Amazing Birds.” He is professor emeritus at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, where he taught ornithology and ecology for many years while working closely with area birdwatchers. He left academe in 1987 to launch Birder’s World and served tirelessly as its publisher and editor.

Kenn Kaufman

Kenn’s column “ID Tips,” featuring the photographs of Brian E. Small, appears in every issue of the magazine. He is an expert birder and naturalist, a talented artist and photographer, a world traveler, and the author of many books about birds and other wildlife. His work first appeared in Birder’s World (now BirdWatching) in April 1988.

David Allen Sibley

David’s column “ID Toolkit” appears in every issue of the magazine. He is the author of the bestselling Sibley Guide to Birds, Sibley’s Birding Basics, and Sibley guides to birds of eastern and western North America. His first article, a profile of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida, appeared in our August 2006 issue.